Remember when structuring a deal required pen and paper? Those were the times when we were forced to put in more effort and think for ourselves about how we ran our businesses. The emphasis has been on technologically assisted sales tools like lead engagement platforms and digital retail that employ artificial intelligence (AI) to perform the tasks of multiple people simultaneously. The fact that processes frequently break down completely and communications between dealers and customers are misunderstood is a problem that many people choose to ignore.

It is not surprising that as the world's reliance on technology grows, the automotive industry has also turned to artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline complex processes. Artificial intelligence has the potential to change the way vehicles are sold in a number of ways, including by enhancing customer service and assisting with communication.

Chatbots are one way that AI can help with the auto deal process. These digital helpers can communicate with implicit visitors, give website visitors details about the vehicles that are currently on the lot, and help them schedule test drives. Chatbots can also help in the lead-generation process by gathering contact information from potential guests and sending it to deal representatives.

Another area where simulated intelligence can be helpful is in the development of custom contract complications. AI algorithms can recommend the vehicles that are most appropriate for a customer based on data analysis such as that customer's search history and prior purchases. This ensures that guests receive options that meet their needs and wants while also saving merchandisers time.

The financial process can also be made simpler by artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence systems assist in the identification of loan openings and the calculation of annual payment values by reviewing the client's credit information and financial history. Due to the time saved by not having to compare and research various backing options, both customers and dealer representatives benefit.

In addition to these benefits, AI has the potential to increase business operations' efficiency. Dealers can order the right assortment of vehicles by utilizing AI-powered force operation systems that help track and analyze the demand for different models. As a result, it might not be as important to offer discounts and other types of discounts that would increase overall profitability.

Even though there are many benefits to using AI in the car sales process, it's crucial to keep in mind that it should be used alongside, not in place of, human commerce. Dealer representatives continue to be the process's most significant and necessary element, and technology cannot replace their tenacity and special touch. Retailers can fully leverage AI while still providing excellent customer service by striking the right balance between humans and machines.

To save time and offer an effective customer experience, retail workers are being trained to use artificial intelligence and technology. Numerous tech retailers in the sector offer customer engagement services in addition to CRM. Many of these systems are even more feature-rich than CRM. However, many retailers frequently make the mistake of not managing these systems themselves. Sending and receiving messages to and from the wrong type of customer guests is a very common occurrence due to poor data mining and list building. As a result, customers can get dissatisfied, which may lead to problems like unfavorable feedback or even legal problems.

Dealer management should unilaterally take control of their systems and processes to address any underlying problems. Our lives should be made easier, and our processes should be more productive, thanks to technology and artificial intelligence. There should be a rule stating that nothing can be transferred without management approval. Retailers should start gradually embracing artificial intelligence and paying attention to patterns in its skills.

Dealer Retention Services to expand offerings for auto dealers by hiring Stan Sher to improve dealership business development and customer service operations.

Aug. 8, 2020 / PRZen / TOMS RIVER, N.J. -- This has been quite a year for the world. We are living in a time where changes are forced to create a new norm. This is evident with the direction that Dealer Retention Services in Toms River, NJ has decided to take in order to adjust to market demands. The firm hired auto industry executive Stan Sher as the General Manager and Director of Operations. In this role Stan will create a bigger corporate structure with all departments including human resources, call center agents, sales and marketing. "I have watched Stan create beautiful things in the auto industry between his high level of training experience to his social media marketing personality to adding structure to businesses in various industries and I decided that we at Dealer Retention Services need just that for our continued growth," said Tom Esposito, Founder of Dealer Retention Services.

The global pandemic has forced auto dealers to re-evaluate their own structure with regards to handling virtual sales and service opportunities. The business development center is still poorly managed in many dealerships and executive management still continues to struggle with hiring and paying the right people to get the job done. In the interest of removing heavy payroll costs car dealers are turning to Dealer Retention Services to handle this operation. In the first month of taking over the position this virtual BDC has increased closing ratios for dealer clients by implementing immediate process changes. This is something that is difficult to do in such a short period of time.

Other examples include the only two dealerships that utilize Dealer Retention Services that are part of a seven store group that reported to be the most profitable dealerships in the group. The dealerships in the group are operating with a smaller staff and have limited hours of operations due to the Covid- 19 pandemic. Dealer Retention Services has been setting over seven hundred quality sales and service appointments per month for these dealerships. "Dealer Retention Services has been a true partner for us during these tough times between helping with customer service and helping generate a solid return on investment for us," said Greg Kemp, General Manager at Island Chrysler Dodge Jeep and Island Subaru on Staten Island, NY.

Along with improving in-house operations Stan Sher is bringing his Dealer eTraining service offerings. Over the years Stan has implemented a successful recruiting process for auto dealers to hire and maintain quality personnel. Stan is also an accomplished Sales and BDC trainer in the industry. Dealer Retention Services will utilize these services to enhance offerings. Service offerings include Outsourced BDC (Sales & Service), Database equity mining, CRM cleaning, Recruiting, Sales Training, BDC Training (Phone/Internet/CRM). Stan Sher will be available to strategize with dealers to find their areas of opportunity to improve one and implement a manageable process. In this big role Dealer Retention Services will expand their marketing footprint as well. "I am excited to join this wonderful team and to help grow our cause to help the automotive industry improve the way they sell and service automobiles," said Stan Sher.

Dealer Retention Services has been in business for seven years serving auto dealerships nationwide. Tom Esposito has over thirty years experience in all facets of automotive retail including experience as a corporate executive for the Asbury Auto Group. Stan Sher has over seventeen years experience in automotive retail and business operations. He also carries a wide network of partnerships with the most elite automotive executives in the world. The website for Dealer Retention Services is https://dealerretentionservices.com/

Follow the full story here: https://przen.com/pr/33354386

Congrats You Opened A Dealership Now What? 

To be in the automotive retail, training and consulting business for 14+ years one would tend to pick up some important business life lessons. At Dealer eTraining I have always kept an open mind when it comes to seeing how a dealership operates. I was fortunate to sell thousands of vehicles in my day and manage multiple dealerships. I was also very fortunate to work with great Owners/GMs and not so great Owners/GMs. One thing that has always baffled me is seeing the difference between a solid, profitable operation and a failing, money losing operation.

Here are some of the things that I WOULD NOT do if I opened a brand new dealership.

1. Drop $100,000 foolishly in monthly advertising expense:I have seen this happen and it is painful to watch. The brand new dealer has relationships with vendors and advertising agencies that have never truly looked after their best interest. However, these agencies have made a ridiculous amount of money from them when they were a GM at other dealerships. How about dropping $35,000 on a radio commercial? Talk about burning through money.
   
   You build a very weak website. You start with a weak social media marketing plan. You do not invest in getting quality photographs of inventory. You sign up for TrueCar, Edmunds, CarGurus and rely on getting 20 leads a month off your website and the scraps that the OEM gives you. Now you wonder why you are not converting. Hmmmm....
   
   You do not need an advertising agency. You need to sit down and create a reasonable budget of $15-20k to start to drive traffic. There are so many great sources out there. Right now you need traffic without putting yourself into a huge financial hole.
    
2. Hire too many people: Let's hire 2 sales managers, a finance manager, 4-5 sales people, a BDC manager and a GM. Let's hire a service director with 2 service advisors, a parts manager, parts advisor, 3 techs and a detailers. The dealership is not turning a profit but staff has to get paid so now the payroll is through the roof naturally. Does this make any sense?
    

   No one knows that your dealership exists yet. Your marketing and advertising has not quite stirred a buzz yet. Your traffic is slow. Your product may or may not be hot in the market. Yet you take on this crazy expense. How about managing the people to do their jobs. No one is going to stress out about success or failure of the dealership more than the owner that has to cut a check. 
   
   I get it. You want to build Rome in one night. But hey slow down a bit. Do you have disposable pockets? Can you really afford to fail?

   
   Maybe start with 1 sales manager, 1 finance manager, 2-3 sales people, a CRM, NO BDC Manager, NO GM, 1 service manager, 1 service writer, 1 working parts manager, 2 techs and 1 detailer (or outsource a detailer to save money on payroll). Imagine how much bleeding you will stop right away. Hmmmm...
    

3. Buy exotic used cars from OVE that are not selling anywhere else: 
   
   Like the song by Prince "Let's Go Crazy" you are about to really do something nuts. Take a facility that needs a lot of work with a low line new car franchise and try to cater to upscale clientele by putting 30+ exotic vehicles online. You do not even have Starbucks coffee, a comfortable customer waiting lounge and other amenities. This is fair since you are brand new and with growth you will get those things. Yes the calls will come in and some will sell quickly (maybe). But are you managing your floor plan? Do you really think that you will be able to turn some of these cars in 15-30 days? 
   
   We are talking $100,000 cars @ 30 = $3,000,000 in used car inventory.

   
   Call me crazy but think of how much inventory you can have for $3,000,000 that can turn very fast and move a respectable profit of about $2000-2500 per unit. If an average used vehicle median price is $20,000 you can have 150 in stock. But wait...there is no room for 150 units in stock. There is only room for 50. 
   
   How much money can I save and not have to pay for floor plan? Looks to me like $2,000,000. Now you create a turn strategy with solid merchandising and you will sell 30-40 right away. Your biggest worry will be to replace the inventory. There are many solutions for that. Your investment is $1,000,000 not $2,000,000. You can now drop $10-30k into the right long term tools like vAuto (or similar tools), quality staging and photography and maybe even more advertising sources. Still not $2,000,000. You sell 40 cars in your first month at $2000 per unit for an $80,000 profit. Respectable way to start.
    

4. Handle an abundance of new car inventory:
   
   Let's assume that you have a new car franchise which typically is not very popular and does not sell many vehicle. However, the OEM does not care about your struggles. They want cars on the road and big numbers. They gave you a rooftop to grow their brand. They also gave you way more new inventory than you should have in the first 30-90 days. What do you do?

   You do whatever it takes to advertise these vehicles. You are on a highway with massive competition which means that you need to do heavy conquest marketing. Remember that crazy $100,000 advertising spend? Let's take $10-15k and go heavy on email marketing campaigns with companies like Cactus Sky or City Twist. I would also go heavy with direct mail in some cases. You want your local demographics to see the brand awareness and really welcome you to the area.

   
   I would go hard with social media with blogging and press releases to promote the dealership and the new cars so that people understand why your brand deserves a chance. I would also start an employee pricing sale promotion to all local businesses (Hospitals, Fire Fighters, Police, Board of Education, Retail Businesses and Professional Services). This involves getting creative and contacting HR departments of businesses. They will gladly let their staff know about the promotion as an added benefit. You will get UPs and phone traffic from it. The investment is just a few hours of your time and creativity.

   
   Make a plan to sell 20 new cars your first month. With all of the advertising mentioned in this section there will be enough traffic to sell at least 20 cars. So let's say you sell 20 @ $1,500 (remember it is new cars) you will only make $30,000. Add that in with the $80,000 you made with used cars now you sold 60 cars and made $110,000 from sales. Hopefully you did not drop more than $25-30k into advertising.
    

5. Completely Ignore Service Operations:You overstaff the department. No one does any work all day. You have no advertising plan to drive traffic. You are lucky to see 3 customers per day. Your service department is barely grossing $20,000 per month. The number one profit center in the dealership that should cover your expenses is failing you. Your service director is not willing to come up with a solution or ask for help. Personally, I would fire them and get someone that will turn it up. 

   
   Again, get involved in the community. Offer some aggressive deals on oil changes, wheel & tire work and other basic services. My solution is to do direct mail, email marketing, social media marketing and get involved with sites like Groupon (especially if three of your local competitors are on it). You will make minimal profit on some ROs and take a small loss in the beginning. However if you treat the customers right they will come back. 

   
   Initially the service director and 1 service advisor should handle the job. Only 1 person should work parts with the service writer helping out in the beginning. Make a goal for the first month to get an average of 10 customers in the service drive every single day with a goal of $2,000 per day. This should earn roughly $50,000 for the first month.
    

6. Hire a BDC right away:
   
   Naturally you will have leads from your advertising sources that sales people need to be working and following up. That's right I said "Sales People". Now is not the time to staff people to do the job that your sales people are not willing to do. Think expense control! Think about that $4,000-5,000 that you will spend on an additional employee.

   
   Eventually when the store is moving 100 units and service is making six figures consistently every month you can build a BDC department with a goal of taking you to the next level. The next level means going from 100 units per month to 150 units and service revenue going from $100,000 a month to $200,000 month. In fact, if you get some solid people to sell cars and work in service you might not need a BDC. If you do go with a BDC think of making it the GRC (Guest Relations Center) as a support department for sales and service. They will be responsible for appointments.

Let's talk facts and figures. 

Now you have $110,000 + $50,000 = $160,000 Profit

Keep your costs lower by not employing too many people, having proactive staff that actually works, investing in the right advertising tools and managing your inventory properly. The worst case scenario should be that in the first month you will break even. This is how you can start to see what the potential is and how you can move the needle. With every new month you want to grow the profitability 10-20%. You can now start doing other things to sell and service more cars because the budget can increase. When you look back in 12 months you will be amazed at what you have accomplished. 

Think about what happens when you are doing $150,000 in sales and $200,000 in service. $350,000 per month affords you expansion for facility improvements, more staff, a BDC (GRC), better tools, more advertising and more inventory. This is all positive and real world stuff I am talking about. This is a sure way to build a $1 million a month store at some point.

But here is the scary parts of what I have seen. I have seen dealers that sell 30 cars per month barely cracking $50,000 in profit. They do $20,000 in service. They have an expense of $200,000. Is that insane of what? How many months of losing $130,000 can you go before you lose everything? This can happen to anyone.
 

(Photo Credit: http://www.freeimages.com)

The key is to really open a new store by being patient and managing the current available reasons. There is nothing scarier than opening a brand new dealership. I have been a manager and director in a brand new store. My owners were smart and broke records every month. In only 9 months our store was doing 250 cars per month.

I sincerely hope that this has been eye opening and entertaining to read. If you are interested in discussing this article please contact me or comment on here. Thank you.

Remember those days when customers would come in to the dealership saying “Well Kelley Blue Book is saying my trade in is worth $xxx” after you opened them up at $2,000 below that KBB figure? Sure you do. You cannot forget how many times you wanted to say “No problem. Call KBB and see if they will cut you a check for that figure.”

How many sales consultants get flustered and do not know how to respond? How many would get upset or offended because they felt that the customer just turned up the heat on them?

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In all my years of selling cars and managing dealerships I remember using a great rule of thumb. In most cases if you took the KBB value for a trade in vehicle in fair conditioned and deducted around $1,000-1,500 you would pretty much be right on the money for what the trade in value really is according to Galves or auction data. I have tried this hundreds of times and was always in that range. Back in the old days we would tell the customer that “KBB is a research site that takes provides average figures but they do not actually buy and sell vehicles.” This was very true at one point in time. But as Bob Dylan once sang, “The Times They Are A-Changin” and yes they are.

My business partner, Peter at Auto Ad Builder the other day and I had a disagreement about how KBB operates. I talked about how Kelley Blue Book took over AutoTrader Trade In Marketplace just this time last year. I also discussed how they now promise to buy the trade in vehicle if the dealer is not willing to accept the Trade In Market value. But we took it even further. I told Peter that KBB trade values are shockingly very close by give or take a few bucks to the data that a manager or used car manager is using when appraising vehicles. He disagreed with me and told me that it was not true. He logged into MMR by Manheim too compare values to five vehicles that I was looking up on KBB. Peter was very shocked, surprised and impressed.

My next statement was “Do you know why that is?” to which he responded, “Not at all but it is interesting”. I explained how powerful each and every single one of Cox Automotive companies is with their data. The data integrates so that all of their systems whether it is vAuto, VinSolutions, HomeNet, KBB, Manheim and even Dealer.com understand how the industry is selling cars. These systems are built so intelligently that they are setup based on consumer behavior. I first realized this a few months ago when VinSolutions was being installed at one of our client’s stores. These sites and systems share data as part of being a division of such a massive company like Cox Automotive. I even explained the game changer that took place when DealerTrack became a part of it.

HOW DOES THIS HELP YOU SELL MORE CARS?

Please understand that these companies provide tools for dealers to be able to sell cars and some of the tools are provided to consumers to be better educated. Since they own all of these powerhouse companies and share the data of what is going on in the business the data is almost accurate. The data can be used to help close more deals. In fact, one of the things that make Dealer eTraining so unique with our training method is that we train our dealers how to leverage the technology. We have created and trained word tracks to Internet, BDC and Sales Consultants as well as helped managers understand how to work deals smarter.

In the car business change is very difficult to grasp because we are all use to making a significant income doing things a certain way. In some cases our egos stop us from moving forward. Thanks to technology and multibillion dollar data companies our business is able to evolve and change for the better. The sales process must be more efficient, professional and customer centric thanks to tools like Kelley Blue Book. So stop saying that it is just a consumer friendly research when in reality it is now your sales assistant.

Hi,

It's me again. Me who you ask? Stan Sher, founder and President of Dealer eTraining. Yes, I know it has been a while since you have heard from me. But I am still here. I never left and I never will. I just enjoyed my peace and quiet for 2 years while working and doing my thing. But guess what...

I am here to tell you that there is a huge possibility that in your dealership there are too many hands in the cookie jar. What do I mean? You really want to know? Well here it goes...

There are dealerships that operate in a very organized fashion with tight but effective processes while other dealerships operate under mass chaos. The chaos happens the culture of the store is not properly set and managed. So what happens is that you have an owner that does things without communicating with everyone. The things include giving certain people secret pay plans, signing up for vendors and letting certain managers know about it last minute or having multiple people involved in solving one basic problem. The other problem with this setup is that everyone has a brilliant idea that they want to try but no one wants to execute it properly. In fact if it is executed the person that set it up ends up no longer being employed at the store. I am talking about mass chaos to the fullest potential.

Why does this drive me absolutely insane? As a business consultant to automotive dealerships I often get hired into dealerships to find their problems and create a solution for them to follow. Sometimes I get hired to be hands on to solve the problem myself. The most frustrating thing in the world is when you try to fix something while other factors are working against you. This makes you wonder...

Is it me? 
Is it the quality of people employed at the store? 
Is it the processes or lack thereof?
Is it ego on the part of the decision maker?
Is it a time management issue on all sides of the store?

As you read this you may feel like this post is written in a very unorthodox fashion. If this is how you feel then GREAT because this is my whole point of writing this. I have been reading a lot of great posts on here about dealership culture because it seems that too many stores have a problem in that department. I talk about my old days at Teddy Nissan and how beautiful our culture was built in the first year of business. I look at dealer groups like DCH (where I started my career), AutoNation (where I sold many cars) or even how Brian Benstock operates Paragon  Honda and I think back to a positive culture and how process oriented these stores have always been. The processes are all documented and practiced as needed. I am here to say that leadership in dealerships have to sit down and take a look at the chaos that goes on in the stores. The key to success is a simple sounding 10 step process that requires time and effort.

1. Evaluate the problems in the store.

2. Outline the problems.

3. Outline ideas for solutions to the problems.

4. Hire the right people and fire the wrong ones.

5. Get everyone on the same page.

6. Setup a process for everything.

7. Invest in ongoing training programs for Internet/BDC, Sales, Finance and Fixed Operations.

8. Manage the process and training.

9. Reevaluate how things are working every month.

10. Enjoy the profits and success. Repeat these steps.

The other thing that is most important for everything to work is that everyone treats each other with respect and professionalism. It is incredible how many problems and liabilities can be avoided when these steps are taken. Let's go out there and have some fun selling cars!

I am seeing a lot of social media activity from automotive professionals being concerned about what to expect from the Driving Sales Executive Summit in Las Vegas next month. This post is a little bit different coming from since usually when I write about conferences I write from experiences. I have been to most automotive industry conferences and for odd reasons have missed each and every DSES event (scheduling conflicts or work related projects). Well this year I adjusted my schedule to go to DSES.

I am beyond excited to attend DSES this year because of the impressive line up of speakers and educational opportunity. I have attended most of the big conferences as a guest and even a speaker so I know quite a bit about the automotive conference. I have noticed that Driving Sales Executive Summit was one of the first conferences to have keynote speakers from other industries. One year they had Gary Vaynerchuk and another year they had Billy Beane as keynote speakers (boy do I regret missing those events). 

This year the DSES conference continues to deliver "outside the box" keynote presentations with big names like David Amerland, Frank Cespedes (Harvard Business School Professor), Robert Rose (best selling author) and many others. Additionally, there are some great automotive industry related speakers including Justin Brun and Ben Koller (Dynamic Beacon and Acton Toyota), Joe Chura (Launch Digital Marketing), Shaun Raines (DealerOn), Dennis Galbraith (Dealer eProcess), Joe Orr, Dale Pollack (vAuto), Eric Miltsch, Joe Webb (DealerKnows), Brian Armstrong and many others. Just look at these names and do some reasearch of their successful backgrounds and make the decision for yourself if this conference is worth the trip.

I am personally looking forward to attending and learning from some of the brightest minds in the business. Automotive industry conferences all offer quality education and networking opportunities (speaking from my experience) and this one will be just as great. Generally, after each conference I write a review so follow me on social media and on here to get my review. I look forward to seeing you at the Driving Sales Executive Summit this year. If you are interested in meeting up to discuss strategy and make a new friend in the business please feel free to reach out to me by emailing me at Stan@dealeretraining.com.

I am seeing a lot of social media activity from automotive professionals being concerned about what to expect from the Driving Sales Executive Summit in Las Vegas next month. This post is a little bit different coming from since usually when I write about conferences I write from experiences. I have been to most automotive industry conferences and for odd reasons have missed each and every DSES event (scheduling conflicts or work related projects). Well this year I adjusted my schedule to go to DSES.

I am beyond excited to attend DSES this year because of the impressive line up of speakers and educational opportunity. I have attended most of the big conferences as a guest and even a speaker so I know quite a bit about the automotive conference. I have noticed that Driving Sales Executive Summit was one of the first conferences to have keynote speakers from other industries. One year they had Gary Vaynerchuk and another year they had Billy Beane as keynote speakers (boy do I regret missing those events). 

This year the DSES conference continues to deliver "outside the box" keynote presentations with big names like David Amerland, Frank Cespedes (Harvard Business School Professor), Robert Rose (best selling author) and many others. Additionally, there are some great automotive industry related speakers including Justin Brun and Ben Koller (Dynamic Beacon and Acton Toyota), Joe Chura (Launch Digital Marketing), Shaun Raines (DealerOn), Dennis Galbraith (Dealer eProcess), Joe Orr, Dale Pollack (vAuto), Eric Miltsch, Joe Webb (DealerKnows), Brian Armstrong and many others. Just look at these names and do some reasearch of their successful backgrounds and make the decision for yourself if this conference is worth the trip.

I am personally looking forward to attending and learning from some of the brightest minds in the business. Automotive industry conferences all offer quality education and networking opportunities (speaking from my experience) and this one will be just as great. Generally, after each conference I write a review so follow me on social media and on here to get my review. I look forward to seeing you at the Driving Sales Executive Summit this year. If you are interested in meeting up to discuss strategy and make a new friend in the business please feel free to reach out to me by emailing me at Stan@dealeretraining.com.

Christmas is over and New Years just passed. They say the New Year brings positive change and opportunity. Since the big celebration, 2 days have passed and there are 363 days left in the year. So I ask the magic question, "Is your dealership prepared for 2014?”

Being that we are in such a competitive industry that changes by the month it is common for sudden changes to be made at the dealership level. These changes usually involve Budget (spending), Human Resources, Vendor Selection and the question of what to do with the Internet Sales or BDC department. It is no secret that changes are being made in the glorious New Year as evident by how many more job postings are out now as opposed to just a few days ago. While changes may or may not be made at the dealership it is still important to consider if these moves are really the right thing to do.

Let's evaluate the four things that I brought up in detail.

Budget (Spending): Will the dealership continue on the same path as last year just because business was good or is the dealership increasing/decreasing spending?

This is a very important factor to consider because the tools made readily available change, the incentives given by the OEM change monthly, OEM requirements may change, staff may change and even Google may make changes. The fact is everything around is changing with companies buying out other companies to bring better technology to the table as well as eliminate competition. There is even talk of 2014 being a big year for more dealerships to be bought and sold.

When we look at spending we need to look at the costs associated with employees. Some dealerships downsize management to save spending while others increase a budget to afford additional management with increasing business. A dealership is profitable when the right tools are in place and the right people are hired and properly trained. If 2013 was a bad year for your dealership then it is time to evaluate strategy right now.

Human Resources: Are you planning on recruiting new sales people?

This is very important. Let's take a minute and think about the fact that each and every employee in the dealership is a human being that is trying to make an honest living. Each employee deserves the proper management, mentorship and training. In fact, if you are still hiring someone and launching him or her less then two weeks later then you really need to stop for a second and evaluate your situation. If you are not sure what you want to do with employees then do the dealership and the employee a favor and stop toying with emotions. When you hire someone to generate profit for your business it is your duty to provide him or her with the appropriate tools and training to help them maximize opportunity.

Sales professionals that get recruited and hired need to have proper training and guidance. Do not hire five people and get rid of two. Those two other people do not deserve to waste their precious time being treated poorly when they can find a normal career opportunity. Dealers do not like when people quit inappropriately and without notice. The saying of "treat others they way you wanted to be treated" applies here.

Vendor Selection: Are you worried that your service provider was sold to another vendor? How is the support and training that your vendor is providing your people?

I urge all dealers to evaluate and qualify your vendors. Review what services you have and make sure that these vendors are providing proper support with training to your staff. As a matter of fact sit down with your management, service and sales staff to make sure that they are using the resources properly. If your dealership has marketing tools that should help make sell the cars simpler then make sure your staff knows how to use the tools. Technology assisted objection handling should be practiced at the dealership.

If a change needs to be made then make a plan. NADA 2014 is right around the corner and there is no better way to look at opportunity.

Internet Sales/BDC: Did you fire yet another BDC/Internet Manager? Are you thinking about what better ways your Internet leads and Phone calls need to handled?

Let's stop and take a look at what the problem is. If you had a BDC Manager working at the level of a Sales Manager and they were earning a six-figure income then everything should be fine. If that same BDC Manager was not worth what they made then take a look at what it was that made you unhappy. If a dealership employs a BDC Manager at $70k or less and they are not getting the proper results it is because they are getting what they pay for. Internet and BDC Managers need to be involved in training. There are so much more aspects to the job then most other positions in dealerships. The Internet manager has to constantly keep up with marketing trends and improving ways that the dealership is bringing in more people. Sales Managers do not have as much responsibility. In fact they desk deals, talk to customers and should be managing their sales staff.

My suggestion to dealers is to figure out what they want to achieve and how they want to achieve it. Once you know that, hire the right manager and create a process of managing that manager. The process should include reports and meetings to discuss what is going on. Do not just hire someone, throw them in the department and let them work without expectations being set. Automotive Internet Sales and Business Development is a fast changing aspect of the business. Dealers that have been avoiding the trend and the educational opportunities need to start taking advantage of them now in 2014. Again, stop hiring people without the willingness to properly give them a chance. Dealers that hire Internet and BDC Managers and make a change in 90 days or less never give themselves a chance to really evaluate ROI.

- Final Thoughts -

At this point you should know if you need to make appropriate changes at the dealership. If there is anything to take away from here it is the importance of expense control, vendor selection and showing the proper appreciation and respect towards the people that you hire. Think about these things as you operate your business and your business will not only be more profitable but also a better environment to be a part of in 2014.  We at Dealer eTraining would like to wish you a Happy and Prosperous new year.

Christmas is over and New Years just passed. They say the New Year brings positive change and opportunity. Since the big celebration, 2 days have passed and there are 363 days left in the year. So I ask the magic question, "Is your dealership prepared for 2014?”

Being that we are in such a competitive industry that changes by the month it is common for sudden changes to be made at the dealership level. These changes usually involve Budget (spending), Human Resources, Vendor Selection and the question of what to do with the Internet Sales or BDC department. It is no secret that changes are being made in the glorious New Year as evident by how many more job postings are out now as opposed to just a few days ago. While changes may or may not be made at the dealership it is still important to consider if these moves are really the right thing to do.

Let's evaluate the four things that I brought up in detail.

Budget (Spending): Will the dealership continue on the same path as last year just because business was good or is the dealership increasing/decreasing spending?

This is a very important factor to consider because the tools made readily available change, the incentives given by the OEM change monthly, OEM requirements may change, staff may change and even Google may make changes. The fact is everything around is changing with companies buying out other companies to bring better technology to the table as well as eliminate competition. There is even talk of 2014 being a big year for more dealerships to be bought and sold.

When we look at spending we need to look at the costs associated with employees. Some dealerships downsize management to save spending while others increase a budget to afford additional management with increasing business. A dealership is profitable when the right tools are in place and the right people are hired and properly trained. If 2013 was a bad year for your dealership then it is time to evaluate strategy right now.

Human Resources: Are you planning on recruiting new sales people?

This is very important. Let's take a minute and think about the fact that each and every employee in the dealership is a human being that is trying to make an honest living. Each employee deserves the proper management, mentorship and training. In fact, if you are still hiring someone and launching him or her less then two weeks later then you really need to stop for a second and evaluate your situation. If you are not sure what you want to do with employees then do the dealership and the employee a favor and stop toying with emotions. When you hire someone to generate profit for your business it is your duty to provide him or her with the appropriate tools and training to help them maximize opportunity.

Sales professionals that get recruited and hired need to have proper training and guidance. Do not hire five people and get rid of two. Those two other people do not deserve to waste their precious time being treated poorly when they can find a normal career opportunity. Dealers do not like when people quit inappropriately and without notice. The saying of "treat others they way you wanted to be treated" applies here.

Vendor Selection: Are you worried that your service provider was sold to another vendor? How is the support and training that your vendor is providing your people?

I urge all dealers to evaluate and qualify your vendors. Review what services you have and make sure that these vendors are providing proper support with training to your staff. As a matter of fact sit down with your management, service and sales staff to make sure that they are using the resources properly. If your dealership has marketing tools that should help make sell the cars simpler then make sure your staff knows how to use the tools. Technology assisted objection handling should be practiced at the dealership.

If a change needs to be made then make a plan. NADA 2014 is right around the corner and there is no better way to look at opportunity.

Internet Sales/BDC: Did you fire yet another BDC/Internet Manager? Are you thinking about what better ways your Internet leads and Phone calls need to handled?

Let's stop and take a look at what the problem is. If you had a BDC Manager working at the level of a Sales Manager and they were earning a six-figure income then everything should be fine. If that same BDC Manager was not worth what they made then take a look at what it was that made you unhappy. If a dealership employs a BDC Manager at $70k or less and they are not getting the proper results it is because they are getting what they pay for. Internet and BDC Managers need to be involved in training. There are so much more aspects to the job then most other positions in dealerships. The Internet manager has to constantly keep up with marketing trends and improving ways that the dealership is bringing in more people. Sales Managers do not have as much responsibility. In fact they desk deals, talk to customers and should be managing their sales staff.

My suggestion to dealers is to figure out what they want to achieve and how they want to achieve it. Once you know that, hire the right manager and create a process of managing that manager. The process should include reports and meetings to discuss what is going on. Do not just hire someone, throw them in the department and let them work without expectations being set. Automotive Internet Sales and Business Development is a fast changing aspect of the business. Dealers that have been avoiding the trend and the educational opportunities need to start taking advantage of them now in 2014. Again, stop hiring people without the willingness to properly give them a chance. Dealers that hire Internet and BDC Managers and make a change in 90 days or less never give themselves a chance to really evaluate ROI.

- Final Thoughts -

At this point you should know if you need to make appropriate changes at the dealership. If there is anything to take away from here it is the importance of expense control, vendor selection and showing the proper appreciation and respect towards the people that you hire. Think about these things as you operate your business and your business will not only be more profitable but also a better environment to be a part of in 2014.  We at Dealer eTraining would like to wish you a Happy and Prosperous new year.

Does your dealership have a call monitoring solution in place? Does your dealership consistently train phone skills? Chances are if the dealership has a large advertising budget and a proper setup for a BDC the answer is "yes". However, it is mind blowing to see how many dealerships in 2013 still do not pay attention to call monitoring. I look at websites and see local phone numbers. Even worse I see dealers doing traditional advertising and still using local phone numbers. I later talk to these dealers and they complain that they do not get enough phone calls coming in or they are not making enough appointments. I ask them if they have a call monitoring solution and all I get told is that they just have what AutoTrader and Cars.com give them in their backend tools. I am not going to get into the importance of content and optimized websites to convert more lead opportunities. I will get into the importance of call monitoring. Every business needs to have a call monitoring tool. Every business needs to have management listen to phone calls for quality control, training, and measurement of quality of advertising. I spoke about this topic at the Internet Sales 20 Group in October of 2012 as well as conducted a webinar for KPA about 8 months ago on this topic. It can be viewed here: Call Monitoring - Stan Sher (Dealer eTraining) Now here are some best practices: 1. If the dealership has a large ad budget and a very large call volume they need to hire a call monitoring company that will listen to the calls in real time and send alerts to inform managers rights away of any profit leaks. I know of many companies that provide this service. While it might be a $1500-2500 monthly investment there is a potential for an ROI of $30,000 or more when used properly. 2. Every single day a manager (BDC or Sales) needs to sit down and review reporting of all calls from the previous day and listen to 9 calls (3 morning, 3 afternoon, 3 evening). This will give an idea of what was done right and what needs training. 3. Take the good calls and the bad calls to review them in team meetings 2-3 times a week. These meetings should be 30 minutes and should be positive. Let the team listen and let them chime in with ideas for improvement. Do role playing exercises to provide quality automotive phone training. My advise is to have the team meet at 8:30 before the day gets started. 4. Some call monitoring companies send weekly and monthly recap reports. Review the missed opportunity reports and review them with the CRM to see what happened with that phone number. In the case when the call was not logged in have a process where one person gets on the phone to call those missed opportunities as a guest relations representative and see what we can make happen here. 5. AutoTrader and Cars.com reports. I love when dealers complain how little traffic they get and how expensive these sources are. Cars.com does a great job sending daily phone call reports detailing each call that came in the day before. Dealers and BDC managers that do not pay attention to them are losing out. I have been preaching this for years. Cars.com call reports show calls that come in before and after hours. I see dealers average 1-2 calls a day like this and they get missed sometimes. In some cases these callers call during hours and they are logged. But what about the calls that do not come back. They are not logged and the opportunity is missed. It is a simple 5 minute per day process that needs to be reviewed. 6. Every advertisement or campaign, digital and/or traditional, even special finance needs to be planned. A phone process needs to be created and trained a minimum of 2 days before the campaign hits. Monitor the calls daily and listen for profit leaks. Adjust accordingly by proper training. This is the most proactive way to manage a BDC or sales calls in general. The bottom line is that at Dealer eTraining we believe that every dealership no matter what size needs a call monitoring solution. There are cost effective solutions for every dealership. It is the perhaps the number one ROI measurement tool in my opinion.